#jackie1

Bambi crashed through the woods, tears streaming down his face. He could hear his mother’s screams echoing in his head, Run!! Run, Bambi! Run and don’t look back! Bambi had followed her instructions, but not without a heartbreaking hesitation. He hoped beyond hope that the man really had only been there for him and would give him chase, leaving his mother alone.

He knew it was a futile hope.

The gun shot rang through the forest, loud and clear. Bambi tripped, falling to the ground as a sob escaped his already tiring lungs. But he couldn’t waste time sitting there and crying for his mother. He had to do what he promised: run. 

The man would be coming after him, now that his mother was... he couldn’t finish the thought. He got up and began to run again. He wasn’t gaining ground very fast, so he paused and transformed. In his stag form, he could cover a lot more ground and have a better sense of the forest. As he ran, he focused his mind and willed the plants to help cover his tracks. He ran as fast as he could for as long as he could stand it. Finally, his strength was running out. He thought that perhaps he had lost him for the time being. He transformed back into a human and collapsed on a pile of leaves, passing out. 

He awoke with a start. He sensed someone else nearby. It was dark out, showing that he had slept for a few hours. He was tense, looking around cautiously. He tried to keep his breath even to avoid drawing attention to himself. He heard movement to his right. He crept backward, wondering if he should call out or just run for it. 

He figured they were too close for running to be any good, so he could only hope that whoever it was didn’t want him dead. It had sounded like they wanted to take him away, not kill him. Bambi crouched in the shadows, searching for any sign of the stranger. He called a sharp, thorned stick from the ground and held it at the ready in his hands. There were vines nearby that he had ready to wrap up whoever it was, his mother’s caution of revealing his gift gone. This stranger had already known.

The next step the stranger made brought them into the little clearing. Bambi shouted with rage and the vines did their work, wrapping the intruder from chest to toe and hanging them upside down. Bambi emerged closer, his branch at the ready, prepared to shout at the man and make him pay. What he saw made him stop dead in his tracks.

skinturnedsteel

“Jack!! Jack!!! Let’s goooo!!!!”

Jack smiles. His little sister, Emma, is pulling on his arm, skates in hand. “Alright! Alright! I’m coming.” He replies, ruffling her hair.

“You two be careful, now.” His mother warns. “Be careful of any thin ice.”

“Don’t worry, Mom!” Jack insists. “We’ll be fine!” The pair leave and race for the lake. It appears frozen solid. Jack helps his sister to lace her skates, then ties on his own. “You ready?” He asks, standing. He offers her his hands. 

Soon, they are skating and having fun. They throw snowballs at each other as they pass the snow banks, Jack’s just s little bit more accurate. The fun comes to a quick stop when the sound of cracking ice is heard. They both freeze. Jack sees that the ice around him is solid and fine, but the ice around Emma’s feet...

“Jack!” Emma screams.

“It’s ok!!” Jack says, acting quickly. He sits and takes off his skates and crawls as close as he dare to his sister. 

“Jack... I’m scared.” she whispers.

“Don’t be scared. It will be alright! Let’s have some fun instead.” Jack says. “When I count to three, I want you to jump. Leap towards me like we are about to play leap-frog. OK?” She nods and he grabs a branch that is hooked at one end. “One.... two.... THREE!” Emma leaps and Jack draws her close with the stick. Emma is now safe, but the force of Jack’s heroic act pushes him onto the very cracked ice and he falls in.

He can hear the screams of his sister, but they are soon silenced, the cold settling in quick. He feels something within him stirring, and a warmth spreads through his body. The last of the air begins to escape his lungs when his body and the water around him freeze into a solid mass. Then everything goes dark...

~300 Years Later~

All of a sudden, there is a bright light. Breath floods into his lungs and he awakes with a start. He feels funny. He looks around. He is in a bright, white room with many strange things surrounding him. He can remember nothing. It is as if he had never been in this world. There is one thing he does remember, his name: Jack.

Jack is surprised when he hears voices. He is startled when a man comes in, looking at him and checking his wrist. “I see you are awake. That’s good.” The man says. 

“Where am I?” Jack asks. “What are these... things?”

“You are in the hospital.” The doctor explains. “You are lucky to be alive. We found you encased in ice not too long ago.”

Jack is perplexed by all of this, and it makes him nervous. “I want to leave.” He says firmly, not wanting to trust the strange man.

“I’m afraid you can’t do that. You have to stay here so we can run some tests and make sure you are OK.”

“No! I want to leave! NOW!” Jack says in a panic. He slams his fists down and ice sprang from him. He is confused as to why it happened, but it felt normal, so he doesn’t give it a second thought. While the doctor is standing there in shock, Jack springs from the bed and runs from the room. He hears people shouting and begin to follow him, but he ignores them. His only goal is to get out of there. As he runs, he feels panic swell inside him, and he wills it to go away. 

He hears people falling behind him and risks a glance back. Where he had stepped are small patches of ice in the shape of feet, small frosted tendrils spreading in all directions from it. He turns back to see that he had made it to the exit and pushes through the doors. It is snowing outside, and picking up by the second. Since he had just woken up, he did not think it weird for a snow storm to have appeared out of no where in the middle of July. 

He hears more people spilling out behind him and just wishes himself away. Wind blows and picks him up. He shouts in surprise, before realizing that the wind was doing what he wanted: taking him away from the hospital. He breathed a bit more easy once he felt he was safe, and wills the wind to set him down. He is exhausted, and collapses as soon as he touches down.

He hears the crunch of snow and looks up quickly to see a car up ahead. Someone steps out and comes over to him, asking him if he is OK and if he could walk. He nods that he is OK, and tries to stand, but it too weak. The person who was speaking with him helps him to stand and walk over to the car. Jack wonders if they are about to take him back to the hospital and looks around as if to make a break for it. 

“Now, Jack.” A voice says. “There is no need for that.”

The person helping him was a woman, and the voice was that of a man. It had sounded like it was inside his head. “How do you know my name? Who are you?!” Jack asks, panicked again.

“There is no need to bee afraid. My name is Professor X.” They reach the car and the door opens to reveal a bald man smiling up at him. “I am going to take you to my house for gifted students. I think you will find you rather fit in there.”

After a long car ride and a lot of explaining, Jack feels possibly even more confused than before. However, he now knows that he is different and from the past. Possibly long past. He is a mutant, and is at this school to learn about his powers and to train them. There are a lot of kids milling about the yard. The Professor had encouraged him to try and make friends. Jack is so nervous, that his hand had a layer of frost on them and there are snowflakes forming and falling from his hair. He sees a girl around his age not far from him and decides to try and say something. 

What was up with that damn snowstorm? Who gave a shit about it? He obviously didn't. He was all set, if he could stay in his flat. Firstly, college and the lounge were within walking distance, so school and work were fucking fine. But no. Everyone in this goddamn shitty little village had to go to the hotel. Which fucking imbecile thought it'd be good to have everyone- whether they detested each other or not- under the same roof?! Certainly not one he'd ever want to relive. He was dreading it. From the moment someone even mentioned the word snow, he knew he was going to feel repulsed by the whole ordeal. And, of course, he'd finally got his key number. The room he was going to be staying in for the next few days. Room number 314. And boy, did Joel have a bad feeling about this. He had bad feeling about everything. Because everything was going to fuck him off and he knew it. A bag slung lazily over his shoulder, room key in hand, Joel started up the stairs, his feet stomping feverishly against the carpeted steps. It would've been an understatement to say he was peeved. He was fucking livid.